Former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher gets hired by division rival

Late on Sunday it was announced that former big leaguers Joe Hudson and Beau Sulser are joining the organization in player development roles.

Both have previous connections to the team.

Several former players have found new roles this offseason, including Joey Votto who recently landed a gig with NBC Sports.

Hudson, a catcher who just announced his retirement in November, is a former sixth-round pick who played for four teams during his big leaguer career, and had minor league stints with several others, including the Rays in 2022.

He last played in the majors in 2024 with the New York Mets.

While Sulser was never with the Rays during his major league career, they are the current home of his older brother Cole, who is enjoying his second stint with the team, with whom he made his major league debut with in 2019.

Sulser had a cup of coffee with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles in 2022, getting into 10 games, before heading to Asia to play for the KT Wiz of the KBO League and the Rakuten Monkey of the Chinese Professional Baseball League.

In addition to his brief major league career, Sulser had two additional minor league stints with the Pirates, sandwiched around three months pitching for the Buffalo Bisons, the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays.

As coaching staffs have expanded over the last couple of decades, so too has the role of player development. While the term itself is quite broad, the role is far-reaching and involves working with players at all levels of the minor leagues.

No word yet on if Hudson and Sulser will work closely together.

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